


The Makings of a Good Soldier

by ThatKidWithTheUnkeptHair



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Chronic Illness, Dysfunctional Family, Lovable Steve, Other, Pepper being awesome, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Protective Team, Protective Thor, Steve Rogers Feels, Steve Rogers-centric, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony being a bit of an ass
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-09
Updated: 2016-10-13
Packaged: 2018-03-17 00:52:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3509048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatKidWithTheUnkeptHair/pseuds/ThatKidWithTheUnkeptHair
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve Rogers is a strong soldier.  But every soldier gets tired.  When he falls asleep one evening, no one expects him to wake up as a 2-year-old the next morning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve Rogers is a great soldier, but he is beginning to struggle. After each battle, he struggles to sleep more and more, and more until he finally collapses on the couch one evening. When the tower awakes the next morning, they find Captain America gone, with 2-Year-Old Steve Rogers in his place with no explanation.
> 
> (I also go off of the Comics birthday for Steve Rogers, because in all honest they are what was first. So Steve was born on July 4, 1920 and received the serum in March of 1941, when he was still 20. And then I say that the Battle of New York occurred in 2012.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a rewriting of this story. After I graduated High School, I found problems that I couldn't ignore. So I have been redoing this whole story. That means I have deleted the other three (Though I have their drafts saved!) and am planning on rewriting. 
> 
> Updates may be sporadic as I am working, full-time college student, and dealing with life.

After the Chitauri attacks on the world as a whole, Steve had barely had a chance to breathe. Everything since then had been about rebuilding. Mostly, rebuilding had been in New York and the surrounding areas, but Steve and Bruce had been the ones to do a lot of it. With their super strength, it had been nothing but a piece of cake.

The only person that Steve really, really didn't get along with was Tony.

-.-.-.-.-

Steve flopped onto the couch as Clint turned on the TV, his eyes showing the intense exhaustion they all must feel. But that was the thing, not everyone felt it. By this time, six months after the whole Chitauri incident, he was really the only one still exhausted. Maybe it was because he was doing so many missions and not sleeping at all.

Clint sat down beside him, settling his feet down on the coffee table as Natasha plopped down next to him and against the armrest. He stretched and slyly looked over to Steve, who had immediately begun to drop off. A smile graced his lips and Natasha quickly raised an eyebrow at him.

Clint tipped his head towards the sleeping Steve in answer. The Super Soldier serum, it seemed, could only really keep someone going just as long as you had the nutrition to do so, and Heavens know that they'd been running around like crazy people the last six months.

Natasha smiled at Steve and then dropped her legs over Clint's, reclining back against her armrest as she did so, acting as if she owned him. And to be quite honest, she probably did.

" _Как ваша жена?" How is your wife?_ She asked. Clint rolled his eyes, but smiled.

" _Лучше, чем у вас,"_ Clint joked pleasantly. _Better than yours._

Natasha raised her heel and then brought it down on his groin and he doubled over her legs. She just smiled, acting like she hadn't done a single thing. Natasha was pretty good at that, though.

"Stop fighting," came Steve's breathy, sleepy reply to all the commotion. His voice was so quiet that they would have missed it if it weren't for the fact that Clint normally went silent when he was unfortunate enough to be groin-hit.

"Sorry Steve," both said together. Steve grumbled something under his breath again before he settled back down. Natasha liberated her legs from the grips of Clint. She strolled her way to the other side of the room and grabbed a throw blanket. Natasha placed the blanket over the Super Soldier's chest and legs. The young man- For really, he was only 25- grabbed the blanket and pulled it close to his body.

Natasha returned to plop down next to Clint and then reclaimed her spot for the legs. Slowly but surely, everyone else filtered into the room and Tony began to speak. At first, he seemed to ignore what Steve was doing.

"Bruce," Tony said suddenly. Bruise raised his eyes from the tablet he was working on and quirked his eyebrow up.

"Yes, Tony?" he drawled. But he wasn't listening, not in the least. Bruce reached for a small syringe that sat on the coffee table, just taking a good look at what was in it. Then he would look back down at the tablet and press a few different buttons.

When there was absolutely no answer from Tony, Bruce and the others finally looked up from what they were doing and found Tony nudging Steve. While it was very obvious that Steve was out like a light and needed the rest, Tony didn't care. But the fact that Steve was out mean that nothing short of a tsunami would wake him. (Or, you know, Fury.)

"Let him be, Tony," Natasha said. She turned the page in her book and gave Tony a very pointed look.

"He gets up at the ass-crack of dawn every day and most of the time we don't get back until about three hours before dawn breaks," Clint commented idly. He looked over at Steve, who had his chin touching his chest now and letting out tiny snores. "And he hasn't really slept this week. JARVIS, how many hours has Steve slept in the last week?"

" _Captain Rogers has slept a total of 6 hours in the last week, eaten half of his daily needs for each day, and has drank a lot of water this week. I believe him to be suffering from slight malnutrition and PTSD-Induced nightmares that wake him. He has just passed into his REM cycles, Mr. Barton,"_ JARVIS answered promptly.

Clint provided Tony with one of his 'Told you so' looks. Tony settled down and sighed, mumbling something about his own creation being against him.

There were about twenty minutes of only Steve's snoring before Bruce let out a sigh of annoyance and stood.

"Still nothing," he grunted as he closed his tablet up. He started his walk to the elevator, seeming upset about everything.

"I'm going to get a tea. Anyone want anything?"

Clint's hand flew up and he opened his mouth.

"I'd like a chai latte from the Starbucks," Clint supplied and hopped up. Natasha stood up as well and followed Bruce and Clint to the ground floor.

Steve remained asleep through the commotion, his chest rising and falling evenly. Every so often, you could see Steve twitch in his sleep, but there wasn't much else to do. Tony leapt up and left the room a few minutes later, planning on going to the lab.

**July 1st, 2014**  
**11:12A.M.**  
**Stark Towers**

Bruce flipped a pancake and took a drink of his tea after just a moment. It wasn't normally Bruce who made the food, but Steve wasn't up yet and they didn't want to wake him, not when he was probably finally just sleeping. The last six months had been hard on everyone, but especially Steve, who had been thrown from the ice and then right into another war situation with no time to adapt.

Tony stumbled out of his room ten minutes after Bruce had started making food, drawn out by the smell of it. He grabbed a cup of coffee before he flopped into a chair and put his head on the counters. It was a normal thing for the morning time, though.

Clint was the next one in the room, doing a similar routine to Tony's. But this time, he climbed up to the top of the refrigerator and settled himself there was a nice cup of coffee.

Thor arrived soon after Clint did, but bypassed the meal being made and went directly to the pantry for the blessed poptarts. With his brother not around, Thor didn't have to worry about his food being nicked from the pantry. Loki, while he seemed very regal and had a 'Holier than thou' attitude, he absolutely loved Poptarts.

Natasha and Steve, however, didn't arrive. When it hit 11:45, Bruce looked up at the clock anxiously and furrowed his eyebrows.

"They're not up yet," he muttered. They were usually the first ones awake and moving. Maybe Steve was taking a longer run than normal? Maybe Natasha was pulled onto a mission early?

"JARVIS?" Tony started as he sucked down his seventh cup of coffee. "Where is Cap and Little Red?"

There was a moment of silence from the A.I., who seemed to be attempting to locate them. Then, JARVIS spoke. The A.I. sounded bewildered by what he found.

" _Sir? Captain Rogers is not in the building, but there is a smaller heat signature in his room. Ms. Romanoff is in there with him, and she seems very distressed. The smaller signature is very upset as well; their heart rate is in the high 190's and there is screaming coming from the room,"_ the A.I. answered.

Bruce, though not a doctor, immediately became exponentially worried for the smaller signature. A heartrate in the 190's was severe tachycardia. It could go from bad to worse in just seconds. And the screaming didn't seem good.

"JARVIS, tell Natasha we're coming up." Bruce put his spatula down and immediately made way for the elevator. Tony, Clint, and Thor followed him as well.

"What do you think's going on?" Bruce asked Tony as they rode up. The scientist shrugged and shook his head, his asshole persona gone now that there was a situation.

"No idea, Brucey-bear. It could be just a mouse, could be that there's something really wrong here. Who knows, maybe Cap was changed into a baby." The joke fell flat and Thor furrowed his brow.

"Shield-Brother Tony, there are spells to do that. But my brother is on Asgard with our mother."

Tony patted Thor's finely muscled shoulder and shook his head.

"I'm just joking, Thor. We'll get there and there will be nothing. Steve will come home from his run and we'll save our Russian Assassin from a mouse," he explained. Bruce breathed out a sigh, hoping that it genuinely was a mouse that had scared Natasha.

But deep down, he knew that a mouse really wouldn't scare Natasha.

-.-.-.-

Once on the floor, it didn't take long for the men to realize that it was not, by any chances, a mouse that had scared Natasha. The first thing they heard after the elevator doors opened was the screaming of a young child, most likely a boy. Then the screams broke into coughs before returning to a scream.

Bruce was the first one to break from a shocked state. He took off running to where he knew the bedrooms were and crashed through the door. What he found on the other side shocked him, to say the least.

Natasha stood in the middle of the room, cooing to a small, obviously malnourished child. The child had blond hair and stunning blue eyes that were only characteristic of one person, Steve Rogers. And unless they were all mistaken, Steve's sleep clothes sat on an unmade bed, a big no-no for a soldier like Steve. The man always made his bed and folded his clothes, even if they were dirty. There was no other way for Steve to do it.

But here holding a blond-haired, blue-eyed naked toddler was the most badass Russian assassin. And Natasha looked absolutely terrified.

"What's going on?" Bruce asked. Natasha shook her head and swallowed hard.

"This would be Steve Rogers," she said, with a small shake in her voice. "I came down because we-"

She broke off when Steve let out a particularly loud, ear-piercing scream of unhappiness. He threw his hands behind his head and pulled at his short hair, like he was trying to pull it straight out of his hair. Natasha quickly thrust the small body to Bruce, who took the boy immediately. Bruce began to bounce him lightly in the vain hope that Steve would calm down.

"I came down because we were going to spar this morning before brunch. Steve was like this, swaddled in the clothes he'd been wearing last night when he fell asleep on the couch. He'd probably walked himself to his room early this morning after falling asleep on the couch, and went back to sleep. But he woke up like this. I'm thinking Hydra," Natasha explained.

Steve kicked his feet and caught Bruce in the stomach. He doubled over a smidge and grunted, holding on to Steve still. He had a rather powerful kick for such a young age.

"Probably," Tony said with a slight hum. "It was most likely them. Any news from Bucky in the last 48 hours?"

The whole room fell silent at the mention of Bucky. Steve looked up at Tony, hiccupping and letting out tiny wheezes as he stared up at the older man. Everyone's head whipped to the now-silent boy and wondered what the connection was.

"Bu-Buck-ee?" the boy hiccupped out. He scrubbed at his eyes and sniffled. "Wan' Buck-ee!"

Thor reached over to take Steve, smiling at the young babe.

"Shield-brother Steve, we shall find Bucky for you," Thor said. He tossed Steve into the air and then caught him again. Steve let out a scream of terror and clung to the God when he was caught again. The scream turned into a wheeze and a round of coughing that made even Thor wince.

Clint glared and took Steve into his own arms. He set Steve up so that the boy was sat up in his arms, back against his chest and legs dangling down.

"You don't throw kids up and down when you don't know how old they are, Thor!" he almost yelled. Steve let out a whimper and kicked his feet as he struggled to take in a good breath. Clint put his hand on the boy's wrist, subtly taking his pulse. It was racing and Clint could hear a tell-tale wheeze in the boy's chest.

"Bruce, I think we need to get him to Medical," he said suddenly. "He's got a wheeze and his heart is racing."

"I know. Try and find him a blanket or something. I'll take him," Bruce said. He allowed himself to take a tiny boy and settled him so that Steve was able to push his face against his neck.

He rubbed the boy's back and continued to bounce him up and down, treating him like he would a small child. Steve hiccupped and the coughed hard, his throat working hard as mucus moved from his lungs into his throat, almost blocking the airway.

"Wh-Wheh's Momma?" Steve questioned. HE tried to scrub at his eyes, but his movements seemed uncoordinated and weak. His hand didn't curl up in a fist like a normal child's would.

Natasha looked up at Bruce as the man contemplated what to say. Clint appeared with a nice thick blanket and the wrapped Steve in it quickly, wishing they had any type of clothes for Steve. Was he even potty trained at this point? Was he able to use a bathroom? Could he walk, or was he a slow walker? God, he was tiny too. He wasn't as big as one of his thighs had been previously and his little legs looked like toothpicks.

"Your Momma dropped you off with us," Bruce said. "We're the Avengers, and we take are of people. She wanted the best of the best to take care of you!" He gave Steve's side a little tickle and listened as the boy gave a tiny giggle. That giggle turned in to a wheeze a few moments after, but Bruce tried to ignore it.

"My name is Bruce and I'm 43 years old. How old are you?"

Steve wrinkled his nose and seemed to think hard for a moment or two before he held up two fingers.

"I'm two yea's o'd, Mr. Boose," he explained. Then he coughed and spat out a glob of green mucus.

"Okay, Steve. The woman over there is Natasha. And the guy with the beard is Tony. The big guy over there is Thor and the guy with the purple shirt is Clint. He was holding you last, huh?"

Steve nodded and threw his hands out to Clint, wanting to be held by the archer again. The wheezing continued heavily as Clint took the young boy in to his hands and settled him so that he was chest-to-chest with the young boy.

Clint felt his shirt being grabbed in a weak grip and head the sniffles. Then Steve dissolved into hard coughing yet again. Steve stuffed his face in Clint's neck and whimpered.

"Okay. We're going up to medical. Steve, do you take any medicines? Does your momma give you anything?"

Steve slowly nodded.

"Uh huh," he muttered. Steve smacked his lips a few times before he continued. "Momma gives them to me. Don' like 'um, Mr. Boose. Make my tummy hurt and make me sleepy."

Steve's head suddenly tipped back. He brought his hand up again, trying to scratch and rub at his face, but he ended up only hitting his chin. His eyes clouded over and his hand rested at Clint's collarbone. Natasha, believing him to simply be upset, reached her hand over and stroked at the boy's cheek. She smiled sweetly, wondering if he would calm down with a little bit of comfort.

"Steve, buddy, do you know the names?" Bruce asked as Clint patted the boy's back. Steve, however, didn't look at any of them. He stared blankly out at the wall behind Clint's head. Tony waved his hand in front of the boy's face.

"Steve?" Tony questioned.

Steve stared blankly out still. He seemed to stare right through Tony's hand as the man tried to catch his attention. Just a moment later, a minute after his staring spell had begun, he began to make chewing motions. His eyes fluttered open and shut rapidly and his lower legs began to kick very, very weakly. His right arm twitched slightly and his head started to bump against Clint's forehead as his head moved left and right. Bruce was silent for a good second, trying to process what was going on.

Then Clint spoke up.

"Bruce, he's having a seizure!"

Tony! Go get the elevator open! Have JARVIS get all his medical files and history. We _have_ to know what he was on and what doses. He's having a seizure and it's probably a complex Absent, but it could go into a Grand Mal."

Tony rushed off and made his way into the hallway in order to open up the elevator. Steve continued to semi-thrash in Clint's arms, struggling to bring in a good breath as the seizure spasms forced air out of his lungs.

Bruce stood beside Clint and put his hands on Steve's shoulder.

"Okay, Clint. We need to move him onto his side, but in your arms. We have to get him to Medical. Do what I say."

They flipped Steve around in Clint's arms, resting him so that he was on his side with his back against Clint's chest. He then braced a small blanket, more like a dishtowel than anything, under the boy's head.

"Okay. Let's go."

They arrived at the elevator to find Tony and Thor slamming the 'UP' button religiously, mentally praying to any God or Godly being not on this Earth.

"J, Dude! We need Steve's previous medical records. Actually, Scratch that, I need everything on him! Medical Records, School records, Anything and Everything, J!" Tony sounded violently upset. "I want where he grew up, when and who his neighbors are! Contact Fury and tell him what's going on."

Bruce tried to keep a good pulse on Steve as he seized, but it was rather difficult. Finally, Bruce gently wrapped his hand on Steve's chin, keeping it slightly to the side in case he was to vomit or produce too much spit. Clint found himself holding Steve close to his chest and trying to keep his body in a weak grip. He didn't want to drop the frail child.

Bruce and Natasha kept their eyes on Steve's face, having a rather bad feeling about what was going on. If he was right, Bruce had a bad feeling that Steve's seizure could run into a Tonic-Clonic if they weren't careful.

_"Sir? I have your information."_

"Tell us, J!"

 _"Steve Grant Rogers. Born July 4, 1920 to Sarah and Joseph Rogers. Suffered from a severe astigmatism, severe epilepsy, scoliosis, approximately 75% deaf at age of 5. Has an arrhythmia, heart murmur, generalized heart trouble, angina, high blood pressure, rheumatic fever, stomach ulcers, pernicious anemia, flat feet, problems due to scarlet fever, high risk for juvenile diabetes, acute and chronic sinusitis, frequent colds, nervous trouble, and chronic fatigue. I am uncovering the rest as we go. Captain Rogers also suffered from physical injuries constantly,"_ Jarvis announced.

Thor's chest puffed out and he cocked his head to the side a bit.

"Shield-brother Steve was born on the 4th of July?"

"You have got to be kidding me," Clint mumbled, mostly to himself. "Cap was born on the 4th? The guys who picked him must have picked him just for that! 'Get that man a uniform!'" Tony scoffed a little and then shook his head.

_"Sir, according to intel and his file, Captain Roger's father was an alcoholic, but a rather good man when not drinking. He died when Steve was four, in 1924. His mother lived until he was 12. At that point she died of an untreated and advanced case of tuberculosis. She worked until her last day to pay for Captain Roger's medical bills. At that point, he lived on the streets and occasionally in orphanages. Both his parents were immigrants and immigrated to the US from Ireland two years before Steve was born."_

Bruce tried to ignore the voice, only listening to the A.I. when he spoke about Steve's medical condition. He had a child seizing right in front of him and there was very little he could do to stop that right now. Listening wouldn't do anything, and neither would not listening, but Bruce found himself focused on Steve Rogers as his little body thrashed.

Steve's hand began to twitch ad hit at Clint's chest in a rather rhythmic motion, his legs moving even faster than before. Natasha reached down and stroked her hands through his hair, cooing softly in Russian. For an assassin, she sure was the motherly type.

The doors to the medical bay opened and not a moment too soon. They all fought to get out of the elevator, but Clint was able to squeeze his way out just a few moments before everyone else. He ran over and put the boy down on the bed. Bruce followed them and began to grab electrodes and other sensors.

"Tony, get me an IV Kit and Ativan. We need to stop this seizure."

Bruce and Clint pulled the blanket down off of Steve and then began to attach the electrodes to the two-year-old's chest. He even grabbed a few EKG sensors and placed them where the sensors would go to pick up his heartbeat.

Clint turned to Natasha, reverting into Russian in the stress of it all.

" _Poluchit' sogrevayushchiy odeyalo! On zamerzayet."_ _Get a warming blanket! He is Freezing._

Natasha immediately rushed off to get the warming blanket from one of the warmers that was situated around the room.

"Thor, use the cellphone and call Bucky, please. At least try and get him on the phone."

Tony tossed Bruce the IV kit and rushed over with the Ativan. Steve's hands and legs were really beginning to twitch at this point and Bruce knew that he was probably falling into another seizure, this time of a different type.

Bruce found a vein after a moment of looking. He quickly disinfected the area and swiped it down with a dry, sanitized wipe. He got the needle ready and looked at Natasha.

"Hold his arm for me," he commanded. "I need it steady for when I put the IV in. We can't let it blow."

Natasha and Clint quickly took his hand and, at the same time, helped to hold the boy down so he wouldn't thrash around too much. Clint perched on the edge of the bed as Bruce slid the needle into the skin and vein successfully. He snatched the Ativan from Tony and proceeded to inject it trhough the port.

Almost at once, Steve's body relaxed and the seizing slid to a stop. Bruce let out a breath of relief and sighed.

"What was that?" Clint asked. Tony swallowed back a bit of vomit and then opened his mouth once he was sure that he was okay.

"That was Steve Rogers falling into a Grand Mal seizure from a really weird other seizure."

Steve's eyes peeked open sluggishly a moment later. He felt the warming blanket be laid over him and let out a slow breath of contentness. It was nice and warm, like when Momma laid with him in the hospital. He missed it. Steve blinked at the men and woman.

Bruce was still rubbing at his face when he heard Steve's pulse begin to race violently. He snapped his head up and looked to the heart monitor, noticing a notibly high increase in his pulse. Clint placed his hand on the boy's arm, avoiding any of the leads, and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Stevie, try and calm down for me," Clint said. He gave it another squeeze and knelt down so that he was almost face-to-face with the boy.

"It's only Bruce, Natasha, Me, Tony, and Thor here. Do you remember who we are?" Steve let out a shiver and raised his hand to rub at his face.

His movements were still sluggish and hard to control, which confused Bruce for a moment. HE watched as Steve pulled his hand back from his face, still curled up in the loose fist, and rub at his nose without using his fingers.

"T' Aveng'rs," he mumbled. He threw his arms out towards Clint, looking to be picked up again. Clint picked the young boy up, blankets and all. The warm blanket they'd draped over him was still extremely warm and Clint gave a small shudder at the nice warmth.

"Did Momma go fo' Father?" Steve asked. "He gots sick after they said no d'inking. He couldn't see, Mr. C'int."

Bruce nodded in understanding and found himself knowing what had probably happened with Steve's father. At age two, Prohibition would have been in full-swing for the US. And people were dropping like flies for drinking things they really shouldn't have been drinking.

Steve sniffled and pushed his head into Clint's neck. He wanted his Momma and his Father here!

" _Ba mhaith liom mo mháthair_ ," he whimpered, though it was steadily turning into a steadier whine and cry.

"Young Steve, we know that you want your mother," Thor answered smoothly, knwing exactly what the boy had said. "She went to go do her work and will be back soon, little one. For now, you are staying with us."

Steve sniffed and picked his head up to take a look at the God.

" _Tá a fhios agat na hÉireann?_ " _You know Irish?_

"This is AllSpeak, Young Steve. I can understand everything you say. May I hold you?" Thor held his hands out to Clint, who awaited an answer from Steve before he went to pass Steve over.

The boy nodded and held his arms out to Thor as the archer passed Steve over, but it was a careful movement, especially after Steve had had a seizure earlier.

" _An féidir leat a chanadh? Le do thoil, an tUasal Thor? Le do thoil!_ " Steve pleaded. He sniffled and grabbed on to Thor's cape as an achor. " _Beidh Máthair chanadh mé a chodladh. Tabhair chanadh dom? Le do thoil. Aon amhrán."_

"What is he asking?" Bruce asked as he tried to hone in on the language that Steve was speaking. It was new to him, not a lot of people spoke it these days, it seemed. She was a little surprised at how fluent the child seemed, though.

"He said ' _Can you sing? Please, Mr. Thor? Please.'_ Then he continued on to say _'Mother will always sing me to sleep. Please Sing to me? Please. Any song.'_ He wants me to sing him to sleep, I believe him to be tired."

Steve nodded at the last comment, punctuating what Thor had said with it. Tony took a moment to take a good look at Steve and noticed the bags under the boy's eyes, almost filling his skinny face.

"Nightmares?" he questioned. Steve continued to stare up at them, his eyes pleading for a nice song. Thor nodded and bounced the young boy on his hip as he waited. Then Thor turned to the boy and Steve's eyes began to sparkle with excitement.

" _Over in Killarney,many years ago_

_My mother sang a song to me_

_in tones so sweet and low_

_Just a simple little ditty_

_in her good old Irish way_

_And I'd give the world if she could sing_

_that song to me this day_

_Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,_

_Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, hush now, don't you cry!_

_Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,_

_Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, that's an Irish lullaby._

_Oft in dreams I wander_

_to that cot again._

_I feel her arms a-hugging me_

_As when she held me then._

_And I hear her voice a-hummin'_

_to me as in the days of yore,_

_when she used to rock me fast asleep_

_outside the cabin door._

_Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,_

_Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, hush now, don't you cry!_

_Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,_

_Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, that's an Irish lullaby."_

By the end of the song, Steve had fallen asleep and was gently snoring in Thor's arms. The sight of a small boy in the big God's muscles actually created a serene picture.

They just hoped it would last.

 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Contact me at Tumblr ThatKidWithTheUnkeptHair if there's anything you'd like to see. I'm accepting prompts and will most likely be doing some oneshots as well.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve cries, Laura arrives, Clint is whipped. What more is there to say?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I also wanted to comment that Bucky went down in the plane with Stevie.  He’s been working for SHIELD as a double agent, spying on Hydra.  There is no ‘Winter Soldier’ and Natasha was trained by someone else.
> 
>  

 

The first thing they did after Steve fell asleep was to grab more blankets, wanting to wrap the boy up before he was able to get more ill.  Clint wrapped the blankets around Steve’s body, tucking it slightly under Thor’s arm, and then helped Thor adjust Steve in his arm.

Tony, as he watched Clint work, raised an eyebrow as a thought came to his mind.

“Okay, Birdy.  How do you know so much about kids?” he questioned.  They were all used to seeing Clint just hanging around, especially after the run in with Loki.  He normally was aloof and liked silence, but now he was jumping right in to working and helping.

“I have experience,” he grunted out.  Then he turned his attention back to Thor. “You need to support his head.  He may be two, but there’s not a whole lot of neck control here.  See how his neck is floppy?  He could get hurt if he were to have his head suddenly dropped.  So he needs support there.  Okay?”

Thor nodded and watched as Steve was moved into the crux of his arm.  Clint then wrapped the blanket closer around Steve’s body and then nodded at his work. 

Natasha watched the eyes fix on Clint, knowing that the others were thoroughly confused by the way that Clint was acting.  She took out her phone and turned to Clint.

“Should I call Laura and see if she can bring up some clothes and kid stuff?” she asked.  Clint looked up from where he was fixated and then nodded with a half-shrug. 

“I mean; we could easily pick some up.  But we don’t know how long he’ll be like this.  And he could fit in to one of the kids’ clothes. Probably Coop’s, from when he was a year old, maybe?  Stevie’s pretty tiny.”

Natasha nodded and quickly dialed Laura’s number, stepping out in order to get silence while they spoke. Tony, feeling rather bored and useless, pulled out his own phone and dialed Pepper’s number. 

“I’m going to have Pep order some child stuff, you think a crib would be good?  He’s a little too little for a big boy bed, right?  And I’ll get a rocker and a high chair.  And baby clothes.  Clothes are a must, he’s still naked right now.” Tony continued to ramble and Clint halfway blocked him out.

“Get a crib, he’s too small for a big bed.  Get toys and a rocker, not many clothes.  Laura is going to bring clothes, I think.  If Natasha has her way, Laura and the kids will be here in an hour,” Clint muttered.  He returned his attention to the child in front of him, watching to see if Steve would stop wheezing.

The others made their way to the common room while Bruce stayed in the medical bay, thinking.  For the most part, Steve was a very medically fragile child.  They, as a whole, needed to keep Steve as stable as possible.  He typed in a few things into the computer, bringing up Steve’s old medical records.  It had been scanned and processed into their systems immediately after Steve had been unearthed. 

“Astigmatism... Scoliosis… Half deaf… Arrhythmia… Palpitations… High Blood Pressure… Heart problems… Angina… History of Rheumatic Fever… Stomach Ulcers… Pernicious Anemia… Flat Feet… Scarlet Fever… Sinusitis… Nervous Trouble… and Fatigue… And Epilepsy. Jesus Steve! How did you even leave the house? Or get into fights?” Bruce now wanted to wrap the boy up in bubble wrap and hide him away in a safe house. 

But how would he take care of Steve?  There was a great possibility that Steve would change back into a super soldier at any moment.  It could be a few days to a few weeks before Steve was returned to his right form.  They could dose him with heart medication and treat his epilepsy, but there could be things that make his original body damaged if they were able to change him back.  But now if Steve had a real heart problem, he could get really sick.  And they didn’t want to kill Steve.  Bruce was pretty sure that if they killed Captain America- gay or not- the world itself would riot.

“What are you thinking about, Jolly Green?” Tony asked as he strolled back in.  Steve was in his arms, being bounced with a smile on his face. He suddenly had what could be a teething ring and was chewing on it a bit.

“He’s two, not two months,” Bruce muttered.  But he let out a loud sigh.

“I’m looking at Steve’s history and how we can help keep him even moderately healthy.  Steve has so many medical issues.  Some of them, we can’t even treat without it being permanent. And I worry about his heart.  There are so many issues and I’m not a doctor, Tony! We need to call someone in.”  He paused and raised an eyebrow.

“Tony,” he said.  “Have you told Fury yet?”

.-..-..-.-..-

 

Laura arrived at the tower with the two children in hands, Cooper holding a small bag full of clothing and toys and his mother’s hands.  Lila held a book in her hand and then clung to her brother’s shirt, surprised by all the world around her.

Lila’s eyes latched on to Clint, finding him holding on to Steve and trying to calm his crying. 

“Daddy!” She took off and clung to her father’s legs, smiling as he laughed and bent over, holding Steve steady.

“Looks like I have a little Tick!” he joked.  Clint patted Steve’s bum, doing as all any good parent would in order to calm their child.  But Steve wasn’t even his child.

“Hi Dad!” Cooper exclaimed.  “Mom says you need this.  Is this for him?” He tried to peer up into his father’s arms, to catch a glimpse of the crying child.

Steve continued to wail, occasionally pointing at his head or his legs.  Every so often, he would calm down and seem to doze off, but then he would be awakened by something and he would start crying again. 

“Yeah, buddy.  This is Stevie,” Clint explained.  He knelt down, Lila letting go of his legs in favor of seeing the two-year-old in her father’s arms.  “He’s just a bit sad now.  I think he doesn’t feel too good.  But he needed some clothes, so Dad wanted to see if your mom could bring stuff.”

“Did he come from the foster system?” Cooper asked curiously.  “There’s a kid in my class, he was from the system.  He has a good family now. He lives a few streets down from us.” He took Steve’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

And just like that, Steve focused his look on Cooper and, with a few more sniffles, he calmed down again.  He squeezed Cooper’s hand a few times, his fingers barely wrapping around three or four of Cooper’s. 

Cooper smiled and bent over, opening the bag and taking out a stuffed animal.   He waved it in front of Steve’s face and the boy immediately took it from the older boy.  He held it in front of his face and smiled brightly before looking back at Cooper.

“My name’s Cooper!” he proclaimed proudly.  “Dad says you’re Steve.  Or Stevie.  We brought some stuff for you! That’s my little sister Lila.  She’s a girl, but she is a good one.  She’s not gross like some of the girls in my class.” 

Steve clutched the bear to his chest as Clint carefully- as not to spook the boy back in to crying- placed Steve down on his bum on the ground.

“Not nice,” was all Steve said.  “Nice to girls. Momma says.”

Cooper nodded.

“My mom says that too.  Are you gonna stay with my dad?”

Steve shrugged and sniffed, looking sad again.

Clint snuck away to leave the kids, but stayed in hearing distance, just in case he was needed.  It wasn’t all that surprising to see that Steve was opening up to someone his age.  Thor had been able to keep him calm, but almost as soon as Steve had eaten and was settled in the tower again, he was unable to be soothed.  And Thor had had to go back to Asgard not long after Steve had been fed. 

“Don’t know.  Can’t find Momma or Father.  He gets r’l sick s’mtimes.  ‘Specially if he drinks the nasty stuffs.” Steve picked at the small teddy bear in his lap, wrapped up in the blanket still.  He didn’t much like the blanket, it made his skin itch.  The skin that it touched immediately turned red and bumps began to appear.

“Well, Dad doesn’t drink nasty stuff,” Cooper said. “Why were you crying earlier?  Cuz you miss your parents?”

Steve gave the young boy a small shrug.

“Hurts,” he offered in a small explanation.  “My tummy ‘n my head ‘n my legs.  ‘n I itch.”

Steve offered his arm to the boy, whose eyes widened at the red splotches.  Cooper lifted his head to his Dad, eyes wide with a bit of fear.

“Dad! Stevie’s got red marks, like when Lila had chicken poxs! Does Steve have poxs?” he asked. 

Laura walked over, gently kneeling beside Lila and taking Steve’s hand in hers. She made a small clicking noise with her tongue and shook her head.

“I think he’s allergic to the stuff you guys used to wash the blanket.  Or he’s allergic to what it’s made with.  Pass me the clothes?”

Natasha passed the bag over to Laura.  She immediately unwrapped Steve, smiling brightly as the boy gave her a curious look.  She bopped him on the nose with one finger.  Steve winkled his nose so cutely and tried to look at his nose.  Laura took that moment to slide a pair of underwear on to Steve’s legs and then followed them by a pair of pants.

“Tony, get me some calamine lotion,” Laura ordered, taking charge of the situation.  Steve cocked his head and pulled the teddy bear up to cover his face.  As Tony went to get the lotion, she gently ticked Steve’s sides.  He let out a shy giggle but nothing more. 

“My name is Laura.  I hear you’re Steve!”

Steve rubbed at his eyes and slowly nodded. 

“ _Tha mi ag iarraidh mo mhàthair, Màthair Laura_ ,” he muttered in Gaelic _. I want my mother, Mother Laura_.  But without Thor here to translate, they could have a big problem.  Steve could speak both fluently, but he sounded much more fluent when he spoke Gaelic.

Laura looked up to Clint, who shook his head with a small frown. 

“It’s Gaelic, not many people speak it these days.  Thor was able to understand him because of his Allspeak, but he had to go to Asgard again.  So we’re SOL,” Clint explained.  He came down to sit with his family as Tony returned with the lotion and some cloths to help apply it with.  Clint immediately took it and began to apply it to Steve’s back and shoulders.

“He doing his Gaelic thing again?” 

Nat nodded and let out a tiny sigh of frustration. 

“I can understand Russian.  But Gaelic? Not so much.  But I think he said Mother. It kind of sounds like ‘Mother’ in English,” she supplied. 

Clint continued to put the lotion on Steve’s body, the boy shuddering away from the cold sensation before he relaxed into it due to the way it took away the itching.

Steve turned to Clint, a frown on his face as he did so.  His body wasn’t so itchy anymore, but he still hurt.  And the dizziness was getting so, so much worse. 

“ _Clint, tha mi a 'faireachdainn mì-chinnteach,_ ” he whispered, rubbing at his head and face.  He felt small twitches beginning in his leg; more correctly, his ankle.  It began to twitch inward, like if you were simply rocking a little bit.  _(Clint, I feel Confused/Unsure)_ *

Steve knew it was going to get worse; it always did.  It would travel up his leg and then his other leg would stop.  It would turn into kicking motions, as if Steve were trying to attack someone or he were running.  Then he’d black out as it reached his hips.  Momma always said that those were his fits.

Steve turned around and grabbed at Clint’s sleeve, trying to pull his attention. 

“What is it, Steve?” he asked.  Clint put the bottle of calamine lotion down on the floor and then turned to Laura. 

Steve pointed to his leg with a frown.  Surely his mother had told them about his fits, right?  She wasn’t an idiot, after all.  But Steve withheld any judgement about these people.  After all, they’d tried to feed him Brussel Sprouts! And this weird meat mixture. 

“What about his leg?” Bruce asked, immediately on high alert.  Steve had cried and complained about his head and his legs before, but it wasn’t calm like this. 

“It’s twitching,” Laura said.  Cooper stood, frowning as he watched the twitching and the constant movements move further and further up Steve’s leg.

While the adults talked, Cooper sat down next to Steve and took his hand. Steve had wrinkled his nose and was rubbing his nose, blinking sluggishly.  He looked as if he were about to pass out.  And in all honestly, Steve thought he was.  His head spinned and whirled around in circles.  It even felt like the world around him was spinning around.

“Stevie?  Mommy, I think that something’s wrong with Stevie!” Lila almost screamed.  The twitching began to travel up Steve’s other legs as well, and he collapsed back to lie on his back.  He breathed thickly, almost seeming like he was struggling. 

“Mom!”

Bruce and Clint were the first ones over.  Bruce immediately did some quick vitals and then glanced up at Clint.

“He’s having a seizure.  Let’s roll him onto his side,” Bruce commanded.  He put his hand under Steve’s neck and gently braced it as Clint took his lower half and helped to roll him. 

Steve’s whole body arched up a few moments later.  Laura quickly grabbed her son and her daughter, pulling them into her arms and away from the room.  They didn’t need to watch Steve had a seizure.

“What can we do? Clint asked as they watched Steve buck and shiver.  His little body tremored like he was being electrified and Clint really didn’t like it. 

“Nothing right now,” Bruce commented. “It’s not safe to move him at the moment.  Clint, Steve has what I would call special needs.  He’s got a major seizure disorder, from what it looks like, scoliosis, heart problems for which he needs an echo, and he’s about 50-75% deaf.” 

Bruce caught Clint’s hand when the man tried to reach out and touch Steve.

“No,” he said quickly.  “You don’t touch someone who is having a seizure, you could hurt them or they could really hurt you.”

Clint retracted his hand and swallowed thickly.  They watched Steve arch up again.  He thrusted his chest out and his arms stretched out in front of him, crossing and beginning to tremor.  This seemed like a whole new seizure in its own, but neither Clint nor Bruce really knew what a seizure normally looked like.  Seeing that Steve’s head was beginning to bounce from side to side, Clint thrusted his hand out and placed it between Steve’s head and the floor. 

“Got him,” Clint whispered.  Laura returned to the room and knelt beside her husband. 

“How long has he been seizing?” She was immediately in Doctor mode, ready to do whatever she needed to in order to help the boy.

“About 3 minutes,” Tony supplied.  “JARVIS has been timing him.”

“Okay.  Be ready to call for help when and if it reaches 5 minutes.  Unless you have Medical here.”

Steve let out a choked and gurgled groan. His head flew back before continuing the previous motion.  Laura winkled her nose a bit when the smell of fresh urine hit their noses, but knew that this was just a part of a seizure.

Four minutes came and passed before Steve’s body suddenly went lax and he let out a rather relaxed sigh as the tension left.  Steve fell into a light sleep, curled up on his side.  He shivered every little while, but it was always fleeting.

“His heart rate’s come down,” Laura commented, her fingers having found his radial pulse.  “It’s at… 47, but I think it’s his normal.  Can’t know without a history, but I think he’s okay right now.”

Laura held on to Steve’s hands, trying to warm them up. 

“Does he have circulation problems?” she asked, pressing down on his fingernails and watching for the capillary refill.  It took a good five seconds and she did it again on his other fingers, trying it in different positions as well.  One time he’d raise the boy’s arm to above his heart, and the next time she’d lay it down.

“He has heart problems,” Natasha supplied.  “I want to say that JARVIS mentioned he had angina too.”

“Angina is chest pain, it’s often from the heart,” Laura mumbled, but didn’t hold it against Natasha.  It was something Natasha really wasn’t used to dealing with. 

“I need a list from his doctors, of what he’s got wrong and maybe what they suspect.  And a list of other conditions.  And you want to know what could have triggered this seizure?” she asked, flitting her eyes up to her husband and Tony.  Tony raised an eyebrow, as if asking her if she dared test him today. 

“What is it?” Clint asked, his eyes wide with confusion and concern.

“The TV.  You have to think about flashing lights when there’s a kid with epilepsy around, Clint, Tony.  Steve was born what, 1919?  1920?  TV was created in 1927, guys.  It came to America in 1947.  Steve was in the Ice.  He may have seen a TV before, but maybe not.”

Tony snapped his fingers and shook his head.

“Moving pictures.  The first real thing that Steve commented on after we settled in after the Chitauri was about how we had color moving pictures in our homes,” Tony groaned.  “And flashing lights, they’re seizure triggers, aren’t they?”

Laura nodded slowly, up and down a couple of the times. 

“You can be damned sure bet I’m not leaving you guys with this kid,” she commented as she started to pull off Steve’s soaked undergarments and jeans.  Sudden loss of urine was not uncommon with seizures, but it was definitely not something that people liked to see as a side effect, especially if you have multiple seizures a day. Steve needed a warm bath and fresh clothes before anything else.

“I need a bathroom with a bath tub.  But first we need to wait for him to wake up from his postictal state.  I don’t like moving people before they wake up.”

Tony turned towards Clint and raised his eyebrows.  He grinned up at the billionaire and shrugged.

“My wife’s a doctor.  She worked in an ER before the kids.”

“And her license hasn’t lapsed and when both kids are in school, both kids will be in school and Mom is going to take shifts and begin to work again!” Laura commented.  She gave Clint a pointed look as Natasha smiled and gave them a tiny laugh.  They constantly had a talk like this. 

“I told you that I could-”

“Clint, we’ve talked about this.  You do not have the time with the Avengers and with Coulson running you around.  Not until the kids are in school.”

And Clint usually lost this talk, so that was normal.

Steve made a small snuffling noise and peeled his eyes open.  Bruce was on standby, but had gone to get himself a cup of tea as soon as the issue had passed.  He needed that after a day like today.

“Steve, can you open your eyes?” Laura asked, giving his shoulder a small squeeze.  Steve pulled his eyes open sluggishly and stared at Laura as he tried to wake up more.

“Hi, Stevie.  It’s Laura,” she said.  Steve let out a whine of annoyance and frustration before he rolled over onto his back. Laura was suddenly grateful they’d been able to put a blanket over him after getting the soaked clothes off. 

“I h’d a fit?” he asked, nose wrinkled.  “I w’s good t’o.  No’h bad!” Tears welled up in his eyes and he tried to scrub them away. 

“Oh, Steve.  You aren’t bad if you have a fit.  It’s just your brain, buddy.  Is it okay if I give you a bath? I bet you haven’t had one for a while, huh?  I’ll make it nice and warm and maybe put some bubbles in it?” Laura wiped his eyes and Natasha brought him a blue blanket, something that Steve himself had gotten for his room.  It was small and had seemed important to him even though he’d bought it off EBay.

Steve sniffled as Natasha passed his blanket over.  He immediately grabbed it and pressed it to his cheeks, self-soothing. 

“Baffe?” he asked, staring up at Natasha and Laura.  Laura gently tickled his sides and listened to his laughter.  Steve held his free arm out to her, expecting to be picked up and taken to a bathtub.

Laura gave him another quick tickle before she picked him up, kissing his forehead like a mother would.  She settled him on her hip and rushed off to the closest bathtub. Natasha grabbed the bag of clothes and rifled through it, quickly finding the underwear packet (from the store, thankfully) and a fresh set of clothes.  She even found some socks when she rifled down even further. 

“He won’t thrive in a tower like mine,” Tony said as he poured himself a drink.  Bruce nodded to prove his point, thinking back to the seizure that Steve had earlier had, the trigger being the flashing lights.  And every floor, every room has some sort of light that can be set to flash with one little mess-up.  Or, they all have TV’s or tablets or other things.  He’s not safe here.” 

Tony really hated to hear himself say that, actually.  It was sickening to an extent, actually.  He wanted to keep Steve here and safe with JARVIS and SHIELD, but he knew that Steve could be placed with a normal family, be settled and safe with a new name even. 

“Steve needs somewhere he can run, to settle down.  Somewhere we can wait to see if this is going to be permanent or if he will turn back.  Because if he won’t turn back, I say he gets another shot at childhood,” Clint commented as he poured himself some apple juice. Then he poured two more cups for Lila and Cooper and pulled out two snacks for them. 

As he did so, Bruce and Tony stared at the archer with an ‘Are you blind??’ look. 

“Clint,” Bruce said slowly.  “What’s your place like?”

“Quiet, secluded.  Nice for us,” he commented as Lila ran in to the room, his sippy cup in his hands.

“Daddy!” Lila almost shouted. “How’s Stevie?” 

Clint took the sippy cup and opened it, pouring the apple juice into it before closing it up again.  He then passed her both that and the juice.

“Stevie is perfectly fine now, baby girl.  Steve just has epilepsy.  Like that boy that we fostered last year.  You did good telling us, though.  Your mommy’s helping him take a bath is all.  He’s a little fella, huh?”  He pressed a kiss to his daughter’s forehead, smiling.

“Yes!   The littlest, huh Daddy?”

“The very littlest.  Now go play.  And tell your brother that I have a snack for him, okay?” 

She nodded and ran off, her hair flopping around on her shoulders.  Clint straightened up and turned to take a drink of his apple juice and take a cracker from the stack. 

“Steve should go live with you,” Tony finally burst out.  “You two have proven that you can more than take care of him.  I’m pretty sure we can swing it with Fury.”

Clint was so surprised that the cracker hung right out of his mouth, dangling precariously.  Cooper walked in as soon as they’d started talking about it again.  There was a smile as big as Texas on his face.

“Dad, can Stevie come with us? Please?  Come live with us, I mean!” Cooper put the tablet under his arm and put his hands together, pleading with his father. “C’mon, dad!  He’s so… cute!  He’s sweet too.  Even though I can’t understand him all the time.”

Clint groaned, knowing that his son always got what he wanted when he went to his mother.  He’d have to get a good crib- because Steve was so small- and maybe even a high chair, because Steve was a wiggler.  And clothes.  A mound of clothes.  And Medication.

“On one condition,” Clint said, holding up a single finger. 

“We get free, good healthcare for the entire family for our whole lives and Steve gets everything paid for; we get reimbursed for any medical cost.”

“I think that can be done.”

 

 

Steve Rogers came out of the bath tub a fresh toddler.  He clung to Laura and made goofy faces at Natasha, who would gently tickle his side with each one.  He giggled and shrieked with each cycle, obviously proud of his new little ‘Game.’ 

“Buck-ee?” the boy asked, his eyes wide with excitement.  He wanted to see his best buddy and honestly, it could that the super soldier appeared at any moment.

“He’s not here right now, Stevie.  We can call and see if we can get him to come, huh?  Or talk on the phone?”

Tony talked fast and with a tablet covering the bottom half of his face, so it was no surprise that the hard-of-hearing Steve was unable to decipher what he said.  But he figured that it was a ‘no’ from the bearded man.

“P’ese?  P’ese, Buck-ee.  P’ese, Ms. Lau’a.”  Steve was really butchering each word, but Laura got the gist.

“We are going to call Bucky,” she said, facing Steve so that he could read her lips.  If he knew how, that was.  It was what she had to do with Bruce, so it really was no problem.

Steve must have understood, as his face lit up and he patted her cheek.  He was smiling so brightly that she wanted to shield her eyes, to be honest.

“You might want to get used to these calls,” Clint muttered under his breath.  He drank the rest of his apple juice and grabbed a small sippy cup, one that Laura had brought, and filled it with apple juice.  He passed it to Steve, smiling as the boy immediately began to suck it down.

“And appointments with the audiologist.  And cardiology.  And other -ology’s, because he’s coming home with us, apparently.”

Laura raised an eyebrow and glanced down at Steve, who happily continued to suck down the juice.

“Coop?”

“He heard us talking.  He’s excited to hear that Steve is going to come home with us.  I can’t tell him no.  And for once, Tony made a good point,” he commented. Clint barely looked up at his wife, blushing as Tony made a noise that sounded like ‘Damned right!’. 

“I’d rather he goes to a hospital first to get a variety of things done, but we can do that stuff at the hospital in town,” Laura commented.  She sat Steve down on his blanket and ruffled his hair before she moved on to Steve the kitchen.  She’d keep an eye on him, but Steve could use some time on his own.

“We can do some stuff here.  An Echo, have hearing aids made in a matter of a few hours with Tony’s tech.  We can also do an EEG, check his seizure disorder, right?  That one will take longer because we have to send that out, but we’d get you the answers.”

“To be honest, he needs a full work-up.  He’s never had a true work-up in this day and age.  So he needs one,” Laura explained as she stole her husband’s juice and drank good sized swig of it. 

“We can do this here,” Natasha said, shrugging a bit.  They’d done it for her when she had joined SHIELD all those years ago. 

Laura watched as Cooper ran in to returned to glass of apple juice before he then rushed out again, probably intent on heading to the living room to play or watch TV. 

“Well,” Laura breathed.  “We should probably get Steve started on this and then we can head home.  I didn’t bring any clothes for Coop and Lila.  Unless you want to go and take the kids shopping while I do this with Bruce and Steve.”

“Walmart?”

“Go.”


End file.
